"Luo Yuanzhi? What the hell does that bastard Luo Yuanzhi want to do?" In a courtyard of the Old Chen Family of Capital City, an elderly man with graying hair furiously slammed his cellphone to the ground, smashing it to bits. Yet, as if that wasn't enough, he slapped the table and shot to his feet. His aged face, etched with solemnity and grim determination, trembled with rage.

The name 'Luo Yuanzhi' was no joke. Even when Chen Huaqin himself had held a position among the military bigwigs, he was always considered a notch below Luo Yuanzhi. Not to mention, the man was now the head of a special unit like Flying Leopard!

How many notable special units were there in the entire Republic? You could count them on two hands, and that was including titans like the Four Departments of Capital City. The implication was self-evident. A person in such a position, if they advanced just one more step, would be nearly on par with those sitting in the highest seats of power.

Although Chen Huaqin prided himself on having been a big shot in the military who held a high rank and wielded great power, he still found dealing with the fearsome head of a special unit like Luo Yuanzhi to be an extremely thorny issue. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, not just he, but even the Old Chen Family behind him, would be reluctant to directly confront such a man.

After all, their Old Chen Family wasn't what it used to be. With the old patriarch's passing, their Pillar of the Sky had fallen, and their family's influence had plummeted.

But that was beside the point. The problem now wasn't that he, Chen Huaqin, had provoked Luo Yuanzhi, but that Luo Yuanzhi had taken the initiative to provoke him!

Without so much as a warning, he had dared to order his men to arrest his son using such methods.

Did Luo Yuanzhi really think he, Chen Huaqin, was made of clay?

In terms of personal strength, he admitted he couldn't compete. But it wasn't as if he, Chen Huaqin, was all alone. He had the Old Chen Family of the Forty-Nine City backing him!

Even with their Pillar of the Sky, their Sea-Calming Divine Needle—the old patriarch—gone and the family's influence in a sharp decline, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. The Old Chen Family hadn't gotten this far by being idle for decades!

Had Luo Yuanzhi really been kicked in the head by a donkey this time? Was he so arrogant as to think that a 'mere' head of a special unit could arm-wrestle their Old Chen Family? How naive!

Besides the name Luo Yuanzhi, Chen Huaqin also took note of another name mentioned by the Member of Flying Leopard in camouflage: Chief Instructor Chen Fei. Could it be... His aged eyes flickered with panic as a young figure flashed through his mind.

Of course, he knew why his son had traveled thousands of miles to Jiangnan, what matter and which person he was after. He also knew that it hadn't ended pleasantly. So, if it really was that kid who had pulled the strings, it didn't seem entirely impossible.

But the question was, what gave a mere twenty-something—a greenhorn who had yet to fully mature—the right to persuade Luo Yuanzhi to help him? To oppose me, Chen Huaqin, and our entire Old Chen Family? Just because the boy was an Ancient Martial Artist who was apparently quite strong?

Please, what a joke. Ancient Martial Artists? Those types could only scare ordinary people. To bigwigs of their caliber, such people were little more than disposable tools. It might be excusable if the kid could reach the power level of those old monsters in the Four Departments of Capital City, but was that even possible? What right did a twenty-something brat like him have to be mentioned in the same breath as those old monsters? It was completely impossible.

Just then, a well-dressed woman in her sixties appeared.

She frowned at the shattered cellphone on the floor and asked, "Old Chen, what happened? Why are you so furious? I thought I heard you shouting about Luo Yuanzhi outside. Could you mean the former commander of the Jiangnan Province Military Region, Luo Yuanzhi?" This woman was none other than Chen Weishan's mother, Du Chufang.

The Du family was a reasonably strong second-tier family in Capital City with close ties to the military, so she was very familiar with, and sensitive to, the name Luo Yuanzhi. To the Du family, a figure of Luo Yuanzhi's stature—a former military big shot and current head of a special unit—was not to be trifled with. Even with the full backing of their clan, their chances against him were fifty-fifty at best.

"Who else could it be?" Chen Huaqin's face twitched as he paced agitatedly around the study.

"What about him? He's the head of a special unit now, he's very powerful," Du Chufang said.

"Head of a unit? So what? Do you have any idea that he ordered Weishan to be arrested?" Hearing his wife's words, Chen Huaqin's anger flared. "Head of a unit? So what if he's the head of Flying Leopard now? You make it sound as if I'm so much lesser than him…" Though, in truth, I am. But that's not the point!

"What did you say?! Huaqin, say that again! He... why would he do that? How could he arrest Weishan? No, what are you standing around for? Call Luo Yuanzhi right now! Tell him to release our son, to release Weishan!" Hearing the news, Du Chufang became frantic, words firing from her mouth like a machine gun.

"Release him? You think I don't want him released? But who do you think Luo Yuanzhi is? You think he'll just let someone go because you say so?" Hearing this, Chen Huaqin's irritation grew, and he roared in frustration.

"But... but we have the Old Chen Family behind us, don't we? No matter how powerful Luo Yuanzhi is now, would he dare to disrespect our Old Chen Family?" Du Chufang stammered.

Chen Huaqin frowned deeply. "Luo Yuanzhi wouldn't dare disrespect our Old Chen Family. But do you think he's an idiot? Or that he doesn't know Weishan is my son? He's known for a long time, yet he ignored us and still went after Weishan. Do you have any idea what that means?"

"That... that can't be..."

Du Chufang's face grew even paler. A woman who had lived to her age was no fool. With just that brief analysis from her husband, she understood that this matter was far from simple. Luo Yuanzhi had made his move knowing full well that Chen Weishan was their son, a member of the Old Chen Family by blood. The implications of that were so frightening she didn't dare to think about it any further.

But a son is a son, her own flesh and blood. Now that he was captured, how could she, his mother, remain indifferent? Tears welled in her eyes. "Old... Old Chen, why don't you call Luo Yuanzhi and plead with him?"

"I… sigh!"

At her words, fury surged across Chen Huaqin's aged face. I'm over seventy years old, and my wife wants me to bow my head and beg Luo Yuanzhi? Can I, Chen Huaqin, afford such a loss of face? After a moment, however, he shook his head with a dejected sigh, the rage on his face slowly receding.

A son was still a son, his own flesh and blood. If he had truly been able to be firm with him... perhaps his son wouldn't be in this situation today. Wasn't it they, the old couple, who had spoiled him rotten?

With a blank expression, he dialed Luo Yuanzhi's number at the Jiangnan Province Flying Leopard Base.

"Hello, Brother Luo? It's me, Chen Huaqin. It's been a long time. How are you enjoying the beautiful scenery and leisurely life in Jiangnan?" The call connected quickly. Chen Huaqin suppressed his inner fury and spoke with forced politeness.

"Ah, Younger Brother Chen. A rare guest, indeed. To what do I owe the pleasure of this sudden call?" Luo Yuanzhi replied from the other end, feigning ignorance.

"Brother Luo, you're not playing fair."

Hearing this, Chen Huaqin gritted his teeth but managed to force a smile. "I heard that my rascal son, Weishan, made a small mistake. He's always causing trouble. But Brother Luo, he is my son, after all. Could you do me a favor and let him scurry back to Capital City? I'll personally teach him a good lesson."

"Younger Brother Chen, it's not that I, Luo Yuanzhi, don't want to help you, but I'm truly powerless in this matter!"

Hearing Chen Huaqin get straight to the point, Chief Luo Yuanzhi gave a cold sneer. "Let me be honest with you. The mistake Weishan made this time isn't small at all. On the contrary, it's very, very, very big! Furthermore, I wasn't the one who ordered his arrest. It was someone else."

"Someone else? Don't tell me it was that kid with the surname Chen? Brother Luo, isn't that a bit disrespectful? At best, that kid is just a nominal Chief Instructor for your Flying Leopard, a title without substance. To put it bluntly, he's just hired muscle. Could someone like that possibly have more say than you, Brother Luo?" Seeing Luo Yuanzhi being so direct, Chen Huaqin dropped the pretense, his face turning ashen.

He couldn't believe it. He had personally humbled himself to call and plead, only to be refused.

Was Luo Yuanzhi trying to humiliate him? This was going too far!

"A title without substance? Hired muscle? If that's what you truly think, Chen Huaqin, then I have nothing more to say." Upon hearing such presumptuous words, Luo Yuanzhi's tone turned frigid, and it sounded as if he was about to hang up.

"Wait."

Chen Huaqin was old and cunning. The instant he heard the shift in Luo Yuanzhi's tone, he knew something was wrong. His expression changed, and he spoke rapidly before Luo Yuanzhi could end the call. "Brother Luo, am I wrong? That kid is so young. Even if he has some ability, how could his word possibly carry more weight than yours?"

The more he spoke, the more a sense of unease and dread grew within him. It seemed he had completely misunderstood or misjudged something from the very beginning. But... how could that be possible? How old was that kid, anyway?

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